ECG rules out ‘dumsor’ timetable for Ashanti Region despite intermittent outages

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has ruled out publishing a load-shedding timetable for the Ashanti Region, insisting that recent power interruptions are caused by unexpected faults and maintenance activities rather than a planned load-management exercise.

The decision comes amid growing concerns from residents over intermittent outages that have disrupted businesses and affected electricity supply in several communities across the region.

Operators of mobile money outlets, pharmacies and cold stores have reportedly been forced to depend on generators to sustain their operations during power cuts, while residents have complained about interruptions occurring without prior notice.

ECG’s Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Obeng Antwi, attributed the outages to unforeseen technical faults and maintenance works, arguing that the circumstances did not justify the introduction of a load-shedding schedule.

He acknowledged the frustration among customers but explained that faults could occur unexpectedly, making it difficult for the company to notify consumers before an interruption.

“We want our customers to know that, yes, to them, it is an outage, and we share their sentiment. But they must also understand that sometimes we can only inform them after the outage has occurred because it is a fault, not planned work.”

“There is no cause for a 'dumsor' timetable. We are not in load management or in crisis in the region,” he said.

Mr Obeng Antwi said ECG could not predict when technical faults would occur and, therefore, could not schedule such interruptions in advance. He added that the company had issued statements to explain the disruptions to affected customers.

He assured the public that ECG would continue to provide advance notice whenever planned maintenance or other scheduled projects were expected to affect electricity supply.